Grüsse aus Bern, Schweiz

Zermatt, view of the Matterhorn
Town of Zermatt

Train ride from Bern to Zermatt

Train ride to Zermatt

Bern in the background

View of Bern

The ultimate Bern Drive, Baby!!!

View from Bern of surrounding towns

Hallo Freunde und Familie! So as we sat in our Madrid hostel several days ago, we began chatting about where the road should take us next. I, being a planner, voted for figuring out the most economical route and perhaps the most direct; Trev, being a procrastinator, voted to not do that. After some back-and-forthing about the general direction we wanted to head (and a few beers) we decided to just go to the train station in the morning and buy a ticket for the next train heading east. Well, wouldn`t you know that train was heading to Barcelona...where we just came from...but then onward to Switzerland!!More specifically, BERN, Switzerland which is the town our street back home is named for. And let`s be honest, that factor weighed pretty heavily on our final decision.

A quick 10 hour sleeper-train ride later, we were walking the streets (in the non-prostitute sense) of Switzerland! Bern is the capitol of Switzerland and one of the oldest Medieval towns in Europe. It`s not very big at all so we were really able to walk about and see almost all of it. Today we took a day trip to Zermatt which is in the very south of the country and is where the famous Matterhorn is located. The 2 hour train ride was beyond amazing. Think The Little Engine That Could (minus all the crazy animals and giant candy-eating, talking dolls) chugging it`s way up the side of the most picturesque landscape imaginable. Snow covered hills, steep rock faces and tiny Swiss chalets nestled into the nooks. The conditions were such that the gondola ride to the top was closed so unfortunately we couldn`t get a summit view, but it was pretty incredible nonetheless. We meandered through the streets and popped into so me of the little shops, ate some great food and headed back to Bern.

Also, and this is maybe the coolest part of Switzerland, we had our first couch surfing experience! I`m pretty confident that we couldn`t have landed with better hosts. They are so nice and unbelievably hospitable. They cooked us breakfast when we got in, a traditional Swiss dinner the first night, a great fondue dinner the next night and we even went to a Swiss professional hockey game! Seating is standing room only in half the stadium and it is absolutely non-stop chanting and clapping and singing and flag-waving. I know Trev has said that it`s the highlight of his trip so far. And, for all the NHL fans (read Ducks fans) following along, you will be amazed to know that Keith Carney, former Ducks player, now plays for Bern! Trev almost leapt out of his skin when he found that out. Basically, even if Switzerland sucked like a Dyson vacuum, we would not regret our time here simply because of the new friends we have made.

Uf widerlu-ege (Swiss German for goodbye)